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The heartbreaking and puzzling ending of Stranger Things Season 3 left the audience in a frenzy, with many unresolved questions for nearly three years.
Fortunately for fans of the 80s-themed Netflix dystopian sci-fi drama, Season 4 is almost here, arriving this Friday to make the weekend a speck more interesting and something to enthusiastically look forward to.
Season 4 Vol. 1 of Stranger Things will premiere on May 27, 2022 while Vol. 2 will only drop on July 1, 2022.
In an open letter to fans, the show's creators, the Duffer brothers, revealed:
"With nine scripts, over 800 pages, almost two years of filming, thousands of visual effects shots, and a runtime nearly twice the length of any previous season, Stranger Things 4 was the most challenging season yet, but also the most rewarding one."
They added:
"Everyone involved is incredibly proud of the results, and we can't wait to share it with you."
Exploring the release date, number of episodes, and more ahead of Stranger Things Season 4 premiere
Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1 will include the majority of the episodes, with seven of the nine episodes available to stream on Netflix starting Friday, May 27, at 12:00 am PT/3:00 am ET. The remaining two episodes, which will wrap up Volume 2 of the season, will premiere on July 1, 2022.
Earlier in February, the Duffer Brothers announced the release dates of the two-part Season 4, along with explaining the reason for the lengthier episodes.
"Volume One will release on May 27; Volume Two will release five weeks later on July 1. So that’s the good news. It’s coming soon. And it’s better than ever. It’s also the beginning of the end."
Reports state that the majority of the episodes run for 75 minutes, but Episode 7 clocks in at a whopping 98 minutes.
Tudum, Netflix's fan website, officially announced that while episode 8 will be 85 minutes long, episode 9, as the season finale, will be close to two and a half hours. The fourth season's runtime will be over five hours longer than the first three.
The events of Season 4 kick off in 1986, many months after the confrontation at the Starcourt Mall in which telekinetic Eleven (played by Millie Bobby Brown) was deprived of her abilities. Soon after, a new menace emerges, posing a challenge to the crew that, if understood, may ultimately put a stop to the Upside Down's problems.
In an interview with Vanity Fair during the Stranger Things world premiere on may 15, Brown revealed just enough to keep fans intrigued:
"This is the most emotional season for Eleven. She's powerless and trying to fit in at a new school and she's trying to understand who she is and where she came from. She's struggling with her identity and this is the darkest state she's ever been in. She's sad and I had to cry a lot. It was extremely difficult for me to cry so much!"
Sadie Sink, who plays Max Mayfield in the Netflix series, in an interview with People, revealed more about the upcoming Season 4's strangeness:
"Just the scale of it is out of this world."
Mentioning her levitating scene in the graveyard while mourning her step-brother, Billy Mayfield, she said,
"I can't say anything about the floating. That's a wild episode though."
In addition to Brown and Sink, the majority of the ensemble cast that was featured in the previous season will be back for the fourth season, along with a significant number of new cast members.
On a more unfortunate note, the Duffer brothers officially announced in the same open letter that Season 5 will be the last season of the sci-fi drama, putting an end to the adventures of the residents of Hawkins:
"Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things. At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but – as you’ll soon see for yourselves – we are now hurtling towards our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last."
Stranger Things Season 4 will drop on Netflix this Friday, May 27, 2022, letting the fans in on another adventure to the Upside Down.
